Lee Rigby killer loses first stage of his appeal

ONE of the men who hacked soldier Lee Rigby to death on a busy London street has lost the first stage of his appeal.

PUBLISHED: 11:45, Tue, Jul 29, 2014

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Michael Adebolajo has lost the first stage of his appeal

Michael Adebolajo, 29, has launched a bid to challenge his conviction and sentence for the brutal murder.

The Judicial Office has confirmed that permission to appeal was refused by a judge who considered the case on the papers.

However, Adebolajo has renewed both applications.

This means that his applications will now be aired before a panel of Court of Appeal judges at a hearing in London.

Adebolajo was given a whole-life term which meant that he would die behind bars, in February.

His co-accused, Micheal Adebowale, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum of 45 years, and has also been given the green light to challenge his sentence.

The news comes as it emerged that the pair were handed more than £200,000 in taxpayer-funded support to pay their legal bills.

A Freedom of Information request by the Sun newspaper revealed that the extremists received a combined £212,613.32 in legal aid to cover solicitors and advocates fees and other disbursements.

The British-born Muslim converts ran 25-year-old Fusilier Rigby down in a car before hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives in a frenzied attack.

They dumped the body of the father-of-one in the middle of the road near Woolwich Barracks in south east London in May last year.

PA

Fusilier Rigby was brutally attacked by the two men

Both men were shot by police in dramatic scenes captured by CCTV.

They claimed they were "soldiers of Allah" and were motivated by the plight of Muslims abroad to carry out the killing.

Explaining his decision to give Adebolajo a whole-life term, trial judge Mr Justice Sweeney said the married 29-year-old, who has two children and four stepchildren, was the leader of the murderous plot and had "no real prospect of rehabilitation".

However, Adebowale's younger age, mental health problems and "lesser role" meant that he escaped spending the rest of his natural life behind bars.

Whole-life terms came under the spotlight earlier this year when leading judges at the Court of Appeal ruled that murderers who commit the most "heinous" of crimes can be sent to prison for the rest of their lives, counter to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.

Those currently serving whole-life terms in England and Wales include Moors Murderer Ian Brady, who tortured and murdered children along with accomplice Myra Hindley, and serial killer Rosemary West.

No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of Adebowale's appeal bid or the renewed applications by Adebolajo.

PA

Adebowale, (R), has also been given the go-ahead to challenge his sentence